Social partnership did enormous damage, says Lenihan

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has been accused of scapegoating his own “single worst financial decision in the history of the state” by claiming social partnership did “enormous damage” to the country’s financial system.

In a report on the operation of the Department of Finance which will be presented to Government shortly, Brian Lenihan said there is reference to two processes which did “enormous damage” to the financial system. Mr Lenihan said political programmes drawn up by parties, including his own, were the first of those processes and the second was the dominance of the social partnership process.

In an apparent reference to benchmarking for public servants championed by his own Taoiseach Brian Cowen and former leader Bertie Ahern, Mr Lenihan said uncosted undertakings which were financially unsustainable were made in social partnership. “There is no doubt the Department of Finance lost its influence in the administrative machine. I am quite proud of the fact I have restored quite a lot of that influence but it is very important the department should be fit for purpose,” he said.